by C. P. Rider
"If you knew he was doing it, why didn't you stop him?"
"Because I'm not strong enough." The way he said it made it seem as if voicing the words caused him physical pain. "I tried and I tried, Maria, and after he'd had his fun teasing me, letting me believe I had the upper hand, he'd crush me. Humiliate me. Over and over again."
It was the truth. I read it in his eyes. Tristan Kilshaw was even more evil than I'd thought.
And he still had Dad.
I found a ripper. It was too small, and the wrong rhythm, but I poured my ability into it anyway. The tear widened until I saw through to the other side. A city, crowded with people and tall buildings, but I wasn't sure where. Pedestrians bustled past the ripper, never seeing it.
"That's Tokyo," Aedan said. "Close it."
Another ripper opened to the right of Tokyo. Another wrong one. Again, I gave it what I had.
"Looks like Cape Town. I was in South Africa once when I was twelve. The agency was tracking a kid with an oceanic ability. His family hid him so well we never found him. Kilshaw had his family murdered." His eyes went cold. "Close it."
I opened another tear. This one I recognized by the wrought iron lattice tower in the distance. "He's not in Paris, Maria."
My ability powered through me. I felt lightheaded and out of control, but I wasn't going to stop until I found what I was looking for. Another tear opened and I widened it. Desert, but it looked more Sahara than Arizona.
I worked fast, opening another ripper, then another, until I'd opened so many that the Divide looked like the television section of an electronics store.
"Close that one, Maria." Aedan leapt to his feet. He'd collapsed into a seated position behind me and had gone quiet for the last ten minutes, which had to be some kind of record for him.
"Which one?" There were hundreds open now, so many it was getting hard to see where one began and another ended.
"The one with a bunch of nothing in it. That's a black hole, Maria. Close it."
"No time. I have to find him." Desperation clawed through me. I had to get to my dad, had to save him.
Aedan gripped me by the waist, spun me around. "If you don't close that thing now, you won't have to worry about saving your dad because we'll be dead."
I jerked away from him and stared into the nothingness that was the ripper. I wasn't sure it was a black hole, but it didn't look inviting. I pulled instead of pushed, manipulated my ability out of that ripper and into another. It closed with an audible pop and my stomach turned inside out. I ignored it and peered into the new ripper.
"That's Mexico City. At least you're on the right continent now."
Closer was good. I opened another.
"I don't know. Looks like Alaska. Maria, stop this."
"Would you stop if you were me?"
Aedan shrugged. "If Kilshaw wants your dad dead, he's already dead."
"Shut your mouth."
"There won't be a damn thing you can do about it except get yourself, and possibly me, killed too."
"I said, shut up."
"It's no use. You can't find the right ripper and if Kilshaw—umph."
I launched myself at Aedan. Knocked him to the dirt, straddled his waist, and wrapped my hands around his throat. "This is your fault. If you hadn't distracted me…"
"You mean, the way your dad asked me to?" Aedan lurched up, tossed me to the ground, and pinned my flailing arms over my head.
"Get off me."
"He begged me, Maria. What was I supposed to do?"
"Help him!"
"If I’d had any power in the situation I would have. Do you have any idea what I risked by disobeying orders? I have nothing." He tightened his grip on my wrists and pressed his forehead against mine. He felt hot to the touch and smelled like the tip of a blown-out match. "And it's your fault. But you don't see me throwing a tantrum like a kid. I'm dealing."
"Your dad isn't in danger."
"And neither is yours. He's dead or safe. There's no other option."
"Stop saying that, you ass." I bucked beneath him, tried to free my arms.
"Why?" He pulled his head up. "You'd rather have me lie to you?"
"Yeah. Lie to me. You're such an expert at it, why aren't you doing it now?"
His eyes softened. "Because I hated lying to you and I don't intend to ever do it again."
"More lies." I got one leg free and kicked him.
"I'm not lying." He deflected the wimpy blow, rolled off me, and sat up in the dirt. "This time. For what it's worth, I don't think he's dead."
"Why not?" I sat up, chest heaving, heart hammering.
"Simple math. Kilshaw needs you plus Kilshaw doesn't have you equals Kilshaw still needs leverage. That would be your dad."
The ass did make a certain kind of sense. "You really think he's alive?"
He shrugged. "I'd give him a good ninety percent chance, which is more than I'd give Grady."
"You are the least comforting person I have ever met," I said, "and I still hate you."
"Still or again? I felt like we got over the first time you hated me." He got to his feet and held out a hand. "Come on. You need to close these things before someone gets hurt."
With great reluctance, I let him pull me to my feet. I was suddenly nose-to-nose with him, and it was very different from being astrally nose-to-nose with him or choke-him-out-in-the-sand nose-to-nose with him.
"You're valuable," Aedan said, his voice little more than a murmur. He stroked my chin with one finger, and I felt that touch to my toes. "And Kilshaw isn't stupid. He knows he has nothing without your father. He won't kill him."
"You seem to know him well," I said in the same soft tone.
"You have no idea."
Our conversation was interrupted by what sounded like a throttled scream. "Maria? Dios, what have you done?"
30
"Is Grandpa Holli okay?" I was almost afraid of his answer, but I had to know.
"He's all right. Resting at home. He'll be better when we get these rippers closed. We all will."
"You can't close them. I haven't found my dad yet," I said.
"Listen to your grandpa," Aedan said.
I glared at my astral not-boyfriend. He tucked his hands into his jeans pockets and backed away, putting some distance between us. Smart guy.
Abuelo didn't respond to either of us. Instead, he lowered himself to his knees and dug his fingers into the dirt. Energy flowed through him the way electrical current travels on a wire. His power rattled my teeth as he sent shockwaves of his own energy into the rippers, closing them one by one.
When we were down to the last few, he gazed up at me. "You opened all of these?"
Although I didn't regret it, I wasn't exactly proud of myself, either. "I know what you're going to say. It was dangerous and stupid."
He nodded, not as if he agreed with my statement but as if he were answering some question he'd asked himself. "You were right earlier, but you were also wrong. Just like your mother. Always jumping to conclusions."
Sweat beaded on my forehead as I stared into a ripper that looked out onto a date farm. Swollen fruit clumps swayed as the palm trees tried to grasp the desert wind with spiny green fingers.
I concentrated on the tear, closed it. "About what?"
"Perhaps I did wish Maria could have been there that day at the diner. But that doesn't mean I wasn't happy to see you, granddaughter. It was simply a shock. I'm not good with those—ask your grandfather."
"You were disappointed."
"I was sad. For reasons that had nothing to do with you."
Sad. I could understand that. I'd woken up sad every morning since my mom died. A little less so as time wore on, but the sadness was easy to bring back to mind. Like a rabbit waiting for a magician to pull it out of a hat, it was always crouched in the felted darkness of my mind, ready to bounce out with a flourish. Tada! Remember how much this hurts? No? Here you go.
I reached for a ripper that revealed nothing but ocea
n. Closed it. "She used to make the best cookies."
Abuelo smiled. "Chocolate chip. Your grandfather taught her. That man makes a mean chocolate chip. But I taught her how to make albondigas." He closed another ripper. "My secret ingredient is—"
"—fresh mint," I finished.
"She taught you." He nodded. "That must mean she forgave me."
Forgave him? "She loved you and Grandpa Holli. Said she had the best childhood and wished I could meet you both. I'd always wished it, too."
He closed a small ripper. "And then I made you feel unwelcome. I'm sorry for that."
There were only six rippers left, but two of them were enormous. I shoved my ability at the largest one. "So, you said I was right and wrong. What was I right about?"
"Our ability isn't something to be ashamed of. It must be respected and even feared. You come from ten generations of earthmovers. Our ancestors would be furious with me for denying you and your mother proper training. I had my reasons, but they seem inadequate now. Foolish."
The largest ripper resisted me, opened wider. "I can't do this one."
"Focus on the upper right. Match the ripper's vibrations with your own, then ease the corner down until it reaches the center."
I did, though I struggled to hold it in place. "O-Okay."
"Now reach for the lower left. Once you have that one pinned into place, go for the upper left. Your problem is you're trying to cinch it shut like a drawstring bag. With the small ones that works, but the larger ones require finesse."
Matching the uneven rhythms of the ripper was no easy task, but I managed. The tear closed with a sound like a gunshot.
"Good, good." Abuelo smiled. While I was struggling with the big ripper, he'd closed three others. "Now for the last ones."
With gentle encouragement, Abuelo guided me in closing the final two. I liked working alongside him. For the first time since discovering I had this ability, I felt good about using it, though my satisfaction was overshadowed by my fear of whatever Kilshaw was doing to Dad.
"Make sure they're all closed. It's very important that we don't leave even one open."
"Abuelo, there's a dangerous man on my side of the Divide. He has my dad," I said. "The man's name is Tristan Kilshaw and his agency has been chasing me for two years. I have to—"
"Kilshaw?" Abuelo looked like someone had slapped him. "That's who's been chasing you?"
"Tristan Kilshaw." Aedan said this with a strange edge that snagged my attention. "But here in Sanctum he's known as— "
"Kilshaw Sterling. Dios."
"Sterling?" I stomped to where Aedan stood, the strange edge in his voice joined by a strange look in his eyes. "Then you're—"
"Aedan Kilshaw Sterling." If Abuelo looked slapped and sick, Aedan looked gut-punched and anemic. "Tristan Kilshaw is my father."
I backed away. Gaze locked with mine, Aedan followed me. "I'm not like him, Maria."
"How could you do this? How?"
"They were watching me. Watching, listening… Maria, my life has never been mine. Not in nineteen years have I owned a single second of my life. Every thought, every action was governed by my father and the agency until … I met you."
"Don't." There wasn't a single thing about me that wasn't shaking. My hands, my knees, my voice… "I liked you, Aedan, so much."
"You still do. I know, because I feel the same way. Nothing has changed—"
"Everything has changed. Until now, I never truly saw you as an enemy. But you are. You're the reason I had to leave my life and go on the run, you're the reason I got sent to Dead End. You're the reason my dad is dying or dead."
"Don't confuse me with my father," Aedan said coldly. "But yes. I am the reason you're here. I'll give you that." His beautiful mouth twisted into a snarl. "I herded you to that damn café. I knew what it was from the stories I'd heard, and I also knew that my father would never leave you alone until he got what he wanted. And then he'd dispose of you the way he'd done the others." He dragged a hand through his hair, mussing the shiny silver strands. "Maybe I couldn't stop him from hunting you, but I could do one thing right: I could send you to a place where he'd never be able to hurt you."
I hated that he was making sense, hated that everything he said had the ring of truth. Hated that the whole time I was fighting him, he was protecting me.
"You probably don't believe me."
Had he really saved me? I wanted to believe it so badly. "Aedan, I—"
"Did you close them all, Maria?" Abuelo demanded. "Every single one?"
"I think so. There were so many, and I spread them out…" I trailed off as I scanned the Divide for rippers I might have missed. I found one right away and concentrated on closing it.
"Sterling cannot be allowed to get through. The consequences would be catastrophic." Abuelo dropped to his knees, dug his fingers into the sand again.
"Why?"
"He is a poison to the people of Sanctum. An odorless, tasteless, undetectable toxin that will slide into their bloodstream and contaminate their minds. There will be war again."
My gaze flicked to Aedan, who nodded. "It's true. His endgame is war in Sanctum, leading to a new world order that encompasses this world and ours."
Thud.
Abuelo, Aedan, and I swiveled to face the origin of the sound. Twenty feet away, a human body lay face down in the sand, unmoving. As we watched in horror, a single leg burst through the Divide next to the body. A ripper we'd somehow missed.
"No." Aedan's face lost all color. "There's no way."
Abuelo's power infused the soil beneath our feet, but he was too far away to close it. I shoved my ability into the ripper, tried to shut it the way he'd shown me, but I needed to get closer. I used up so much energy closing the others I was too weak to do it from this distance.
I ran as fast as I could, but I knew I wouldn't make it in time.
The other leg, then the rest of the man, slid through the ripper seconds before I snapped it shut. My abuelo crouched behind me, panting. My pulse was doing triple time. Closing that ripper had taken a lot out of both of us, and it hadn't even been worth the effort.
Tristan Kilshaw, Sterling, or whatever the bastard's name was, stood tall and strong and here. The monster was here. In Dead End.
In Sanctum.
Kilshaw sucked in a huge lungful of air and blew it out. Twisted his head around and stared straight at my grandfather.
"Long time no see, Emilio."
31
"It feels good to be home again."
Kilshaw lifted his hands. A peculiar, inert energy built up in the space around him. The energy wasn't dead, and it wasn't alive. It was as if it were waiting for something.
"Dad." I slid to my knees and rolled him onto his back. He winced and choked out a pained cough, his face bruised and swollen. His wrists and ankles weren't bound anymore, but his right leg and arm were twisted unnaturally, and blood dripped from a cut on his head.
Fury rocketed through me. "Monster."
"We're all monsters, aren't we?" Kilshaw gave me an insouciant shrug. "Had you done what I asked, this all could have been avoided." He smoothed out his suit, straightened his cuffs, flicked something off his sleeve. "He could've had a quick, clean death instead of soiling my suit with his mid-caste blood."
I lunged at him. Aedan grabbed me, his arms twining with mine, locking me in place against him.
"Let go." I lifted my legs and made myself dead weight, but Aedan simply readjusted his grip.
"He'll kill you if I do."
"Didn't you see what your trash father did to my dad?"
"Keep pissing him off and he'll finish the job," Aedan said. "You can't win this battle by charging in blindly. There's more at work here. If you attack him, he can—"
"Quiet now, Aedan. You wouldn't want to spill any family secrets while I've got Maria's poor papa at my mercy, would you?"
"No, sir." Aedan shivered as if he were cold, but I knew he wasn't. He was terrified. That made me stop f
ighting him and start paying attention, because something was going on, and Aedan wasn't going to be able to tell me anything.
I glanced at my dad. His breathing was labored, his face screwed up in pain. I couldn't do anything to jeopardize his safety. If it cost me some pride to keep him alive, well, so be it. Pride was cheap.
Kilshaw regarded me with a glint in his eye and a half-curve to his mouth. "That look. I've seen it before."
"Tristan." My abuelo raised one eyebrow and pursed his lips. He did not look happy.
"Ah, that's where I've seen it." Kilshaw's mouth finished the curve, arching into an oily grin. "Emilio. You got old."
"Been a few years."
"Fifty." The grin dropped off Kilshaw's lips and he snarled, "Fifty goddamned years since I was cast out of my own home." He jabbed his index finger at Abuelo. "By you, Emilio."
"You gave me no choice."
"There is always a choice." Kilshaw drew his strange weapon, pointed it at Abuelo. "You betrayed me because you were too weak to stand up to a bunch of lessers."
"I wasn't too weak to take a stand against your totalitarian Elites. Since you're all so powerful, that should have been a tougher fight."
Kilshaw's jaw hardened. "I am going to kill you."
The ground beneath me rumbled as my anxiety rose. My body was worn out from opening and closing the rippers, but as the ground began to shake, I realized that not only did I still have power, I was stronger than I'd ever thought possible.
I could end Kilshaw right here, right now.
"Maria, stop," Aedan and Abuelo yelled.
Kilshaw knelt to the ground and drove his free hand into the sand. "Thank you, earthmover."
The rumbling bounced from Kilshaw to me. Back and forth, like a game. Every time it returned to me, the vibrations felt less my own. They were warped and discordant, like a song played on an out-of-tune piano. Then my grip on my ability was slapped away, the force of it knocking me back a step.
I blinked at him. "What did you do?"
"Your granddaughter is something." Kilshaw smiled at Abuelo. "She doesn't even need to touch the earth to affect it, does she? Amazing. I've never felt an earthmover so deliciously powerful." Kilshaw closed his eyes and the ground rumbled more intensely than before, a familiar energy thrumming beneath us.
